Restaurant boss 'distressed' by suspected arson

A restaurant boss says he is "very distressed" following a fire at his business, which investigators believe was started deliberately.

Firefighters were called to Bombil in Bristol shortly before 21:00 GMT on Saturday after customers reportedly noticed black smoke coming from a bathroom cubicle.

Avon Fire and Rescue Service (AFRS) said it believed the blaze was started deliberately in the toilet and Avon and Somerset Police launched an investigation.

Raja Munuswamy, managing director of the Nutmeg group - which owns the Bedminster restaurant - said he was disappointed by the incident.

He said he did not "have any words" to describe the fact someone may have targeted his business, adding he could not imagine "what that person is thinking when he's trying to destroy a business for no reason".

An attempt to tackle the fire was initially made with a fire extinguisher, but emergency services were called as the flames spread inside a storage cupboard.

No one was hurt in the incident, with Mr Munuswamy saying the fire service arrived at the scene in East Street within 10 minutes.

AFRS said crews from four stations - Temple, Bedminster, Kingswood and Avonmouth - attended the blaze.

With the restaurant needing to be quickly evacuated, the majority of customers initially left without paying - but Mr Munuswamy said there had since been a "beautiful" response.

Mr Munuswamy said a customer returned to the restaurant at 01:00 GMT to pay and added most people in Bristol were "very kind".

On Tuesday, Avon and Somerset Police confirmed officers were investigating the incident.

A spokesperson said: "CCTV and house-to-house enquiries have been carried out, and crime scene investigators have attended the scene."

"The restaurant was busy at the time of the incident, and we are appealing to any potential witnesses or customers with information which could assist our enquiries to come forward," they added.

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